Sidney Lumet, a director who preferred the streets of New York to the back lots of Hollywood and whose stories of conscience -- "12 Angry Men," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," "The Verdict," "Network" -- became modern American film classics, died Saturday morning at his home in Manhattan. He was 86.
His stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel, said the cause was lymphoma.
"While the goal of all movies is to entertain," Mr. Lumet
once wrote, "the kind of film in which I believe goes one
step further. It compels the spectator to examine one facet
or another of his own conscience. It stimulates thought and
sets the mental juices flowing."
Social issues set his own mental juices flowing, and his best
films not only probed the consequences of prejudice,
corruption and betrayal but also celebrated individual acts
of courage.
